


Lost and Found

by Merit



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-11
Updated: 2015-02-11
Packaged: 2018-03-11 15:28:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3330854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merit/pseuds/Merit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They left before dawn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost and Found

**Author's Note:**

  * For [geckoholic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/geckoholic/gifts).



They left before dawn. The house was quiet; the whole of 12 was quieter than Katniss had ever remembered. By mid morning it would be noisy, filled with the sounds of construction, of people yelling. It was going to be better, bigger than before, Katniss had been told. Katniss had been told a lot of things.

Johanna had an axe strapped to her back. Johanna grinned when she saw Katniss looking. “Can’t be too careful,” she said, eyes flickering from the woods to the house. Katniss picked up her bow with a careless shrug and Johanna nodded her approval. They made their way across to the old fence, their breath white in the early morning cold. Everything was indistinct at this hour, vague shadows and shapes, maybe monsters hiding. The light was grey and at the edge of the horizon, Katniss could see a burst of orange that soon would be the sun.

At the fence, Katniss paused, looking up and down the length. Even here she could see the damage the Capitol had done when they had bombed 12. They had never expected us to survive, Katniss thought, lost in her thoughts for a moment. But Johanna was already striding up ahead, shoulders high and soon Katniss was jogging after her. The air felt like ice in her lungs. Johanna sent her an amused look over the shoulder.

Johanna stomped ahead, the twigs from old trees cracking under her heavy boots. Little critters fled, hiding in holes and behind trees. It was scaring all the potential game away but Katniss couldn’t bring herself to care. Johanna swung underneath a branch but when Katniss was close, she held it up high, bowing as Katniss walked by. There was a mocking glint in her eye, a sardonic twist to her mouth.

“My lady,” she murmured and Katniss nodded her thanks. Johanna was walking behind her now and Katniss felt a prickling sensation at the back of her neck. Was this how Johanna felt earlier, she wondered. She didn’t feel uneasy, but her nerves couldn’t stop jittering.

“They treated us nice, sometimes, when they wanted something,” Johanna said, voice low like a shadow. “Put me in pretty clothes,” that you hated, Katniss thought, “Made me look beautiful. But it was never for me. Only for them...” her voice trailed off.

“I like you now,” Katniss said. She reddened but she didn’t look away. Johanna stared at her, her cheeks still a bit too hollow, a curious expression on her face and then she laughed.

“It’s not that bad,” Johanna said, looking up. Streams on sunlight broke through the canopy and Johanna smiled.

They crossed a creek, gurgling slowly and Katniss didn’t comment when Johanna paled. Johanna paused, staring at the water for several moments. Then she jumped across it, axe thudding against her back. There was a fine sweat on her forehead and she avoided Katniss’ gaze.

Johanna knew her way about a forest, Katniss noted, but she wasn’t very good at being quiet. She didn’t take out her bow, instead Katniss set up several traps. Johanna watched carefully.

Then Katniss settled back in one of her favourite spots. It was tree hollow, big enough for two. Back before she had been reaped, she had used to sit with Gale, watch out for particularly tasty looking birds or squirrels. They had never talked much, but they had always known about each other’s lives. Katniss didn’t think she’d be going back into the forest any time soon with Gale.

Johanna set the axe next to her and then slumped down beside Katniss. Her fingers tapped a rhythm against the haft, careless and reckless. With effort, she pulled her fingers away and cross them in her lap.

“They never allowed us to do this,” Johanna said quietly. “We were marched out in the morning and marched back at night. Whipped if we didn’t meet a quota,” she added. “The older ones usually took it for the younger ones,” she looked down. “And they took that all away when they made me pretty for the Games.”

Katniss’ hand drifted to the ugly scar on her arm, where Johanna had hacked at her arm. At the time Katniss had thought Johanna was going to kill her, that she had a plan with Finnick, that they were going to kill Peeta. Johanna was smiling ruefully.

“I like it,” Katniss said, even though the scar was ugly, “They couldn’t take this from me. Effie right about screamed when she saw it though,” Katniss tilted her head back. The sun was in the sky now, weak yellow light filtering through the leaves, the dark branches. “They didn’t think it made me a very pretty rebellion symbol though,” she said, mouth twisting.

“Fuck ‘em,” Johanna said, eyes dark. They sat in silence for a while, the forest ignoring them. Johanna was warm against her side, from her shoulder to her knee. Johanna’s eyes lit up when she saw a family of squirrels dart past. Katniss watched her, hand never straying to her bow. She hadn’t even strung it, she though absently, as the sunlight hit Johanna’s eyes, turning them a molten brown. A cloud passed by and they were shadowed in grey. Johanna’s eyes fluttered close, her eyelashes stark on her skin. This close Katniss could count her freckles, the lines in her lips, the jagged ends of her hair.

Johanna stretched next to her, her legs long and slim. She swung an arm around Katniss and Katniss started, looking at Johanna.

“Shh,” Johanna murmured, eyes half lowered. “Do you want to hear a secret?” And she beckoned Katniss closer. When her lips were tracing the shell of Katniss’ ear, Johanna leaned over and kissed Katniss at the corner of her mouth.  Katniss’ eyes flew up. Johanna was watching her steadily. They stared at each other for a time. Katniss could see herself flushing in Johanna’s eyes. The moment almost seemed to pass.

She was the only one watching.

Katniss closed her eyes and leaned in.

**Author's Note:**

> Treat, treat, treat... :D


End file.
